Constructing Record Quality Measures Based on Catalog Use
Philip Hider and Kah-Ching Tan

ABSTRACT: Approaches to the measurement of catalog record quality are discussed. The systematic application of specific evaluation criteria may be more reliable than expert opinion, if not necessarily more accurate, and the construction of an error weightings table based on empirical investigation into catalog use is described. Although this process proved to be complex, and involved significant methodological problems, it was shown to be readily achievable. As catalog use may in many cases be insufficiently uniform across libraries to allow for generic evaluation criteria, it is proposed that cataloging managers construct their own set by studying the impact that record quality has on the particular use of their own catalogs. Thus more empirical research into catalog use is advocated, in order to supplement expert opinion and to build toward a practice of evidence-based cataloging.

KEYWORDS: Record quality measures, catalog use

Uniform Titles from AACR to RDA
Jean Weihs and Lynne C. Howarth

ABSTRACT: Even before John Fiske (1878) reminded cataloguers of their "duty" to correctly identify authors with the same name, uniform headings had assumed a place and purpose in 19th century catalogues. Rules for names of persons, families, corporate bodies, and places have been developed to ensure consistency of both structure and application. Cataloguers agree on the importance of form when creating either uniform headings or uniform titles. Paths diverge at the point of application. Effective collocation by means of uniform titles is entirely dependent on whether or not the option to establish them is exercised. In this article, we explore how the concept and treatment of "uniform title" has evolved within Anglo-American cataloguing codes, and is changing within RDA: Resource Description and Access.

ABSTRACT: After a review of the Kent State Libraries and Media Services Website, a committee of librarians and staff gathered user feedback and developed a library-specific content management system (CMS) to make the move from a static HTML environment to database-driven design. This paper focuses on the significant role of metadata in the CMS from the perspective of one of the site's architects and one of its content developers. This article includes figures and a bibliography for further reading. The work of the redesign was earlier described in a poster presentation for the 12th Annual ACRL conference.

Genre Terms for Chemistry and Engineering: Not Just for Literature Anymore
Carrie Newsom, Jimmie Lundgren, and Nancy Mitchell Poehlmann

ABSTRACT: We developed a project utilizing the local form/genre heading, "property data," and specific subheadings to help chemists, engineers and those librarians assisting them to more easily locate library resources containing chemical and physical properties of substances. This paper describes the project and examines possibilities for improving access to physical sciences literature in relation to Library of Congress Subject Headings and ongoing developments in authority records for form/genre terms. It also introduces functionality of such headings in the new "Next Generation" catalogs.

The first of four articles in this issue echoes the fifth recommendation of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control in that it calls for catalogers to practice evidence-based cataloging. In it, Hider and Tan describe a set of studies that examine issues involved in assessing catalog record quality based on catalog use. This is followed by the fourth in a series of articles by Weihs and Howarth intended to set the stage for the publication and implementation of RDA: Resource Description and Access. In it the authors explore how the concept and treatment of uniform titles has evolved with the Anglo-American cataloguing codes, and is changing within RDA. The redesign of the Kent State Libraries and Media Services Website is the topic of the next article. It falls within the scope of CCQ through its implementation of metadata for the description and access to its pages and the resources. The final article describes a form/genre heading project implemented to help chemists and engineers identify resources that contain data on the chemical and physical properties of particular substances. The authors include their experiences with SACO proposals related to this project.

Books reviews for Using XML and Emerging Issues in Academic Library Cataloging & Technical Services follow. This issue concludes with Cataloging News. Note particularly that this column includes five items related to or in response to recommendations 1, 4, and 5 of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. The authors of those responses include Lois Mai Chan, Pauline Atherton Cochrane, Tony Olson, Aileen Y. Chang, Rebecca R. Culbertson, and Christine Ashley. The column concludes with news from SACO and numerous award announcements.

Welcome to the news column. Its purpose is to disseminate
information on any aspect of cataloging and classification that may be
of interest to the cataloging community. This column is not just
intended for news items, but serves to document discussions of interest
as well as news concerning you, your research efforts, and your
organization. If you have any pertinent materials, notes, minutes, or
reports, please contact the editor (email: skroe@ilstu.edu;
phone: 309-438-5039). News columns will typically be available prior to
publication in print from the CCQ website at http://catalogingandclassificationquarterly.com/.

We would appreciate receiving items having to do with:

Research and Opinion

Abstracts or reports of on-going or unpublished research

Bibliographies of materials available on specific subjects

Analysis or description of new technologies

Call for papers

Comments or opinions on the art of cataloging

Events

Notes, minutes, or summaries of meetings, etc. of interest
to catalogers

Publication announcements

Description of grants

Description of projects

People

Announcements of changes in personnel

Announcements of honors, offices, etc.

The first five items were received in response to the editor's offer1 to use this column as a publication forum for items that address one of more of the Working Group's recommendations, not necessarily to the Library of Congress (LC), but to the library community collectively (All).2 The items appear below sorted by recommendation number. Future submissions of this type continue to be welcome.

RESEARCH AND RESPONSES RELATED TO "ON THE RECORD:
THE REPORT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WORKING GROUP
ON THE FUTURE OF BIBLIOGRPAHIC CONTROL"

EndNote as a Tool for Harvesting Contents Metadata for Bibliographic Enhancement

Recommendation 1.1.2.1 All: Develop workflow and mechanisms to use data and metadata from network resources, such as abstracting and indexing services, Amazon, IMDb, etc., where those can enhance the user's experience in seeking and using information.3

Catalogers are working hard to enhance WorldCat records with contents notes to aid discovery of library materials. While much of this content information is freely available on the web, it can be tedious to convert it to a usable form for bibliographic records. We've found that by using the citation management program EndNote, we can very easily transfer this information to a contents note in three simple steps.

Step 1. Import contents to EndNote. Because EndNote is one of the most popular citation management programs in use, nearly every publisher and content provider has a way to import citations to EndNote. This process is usually seamless (direct import) but depending on the provider, it may require an additional step of first saving the citations as a text file and then importing the file into EndNote.

Step 2. Format the contents. EndNote output styles can be customized to accommodate almost any combination of fields required. Capitalization of titles, addition (or not) of author names, these can all be changed. The output style can even add ‘et al.’ where appropriate. Common acronyms (such as DNA) can be designated in the EndNote system preferences; these words will not change case even if the capitalization style changes. From EndNote, the formatted citations are copied to a Word document and final editing is done. Using the ‘Find and replace’ function in Word, paragraph marks are removed and substituted with dashes between entries.

Step 3. Paste and validate. From the Word document, the contents can be pasted to a contents note in OCLC (preferable) or the local system. Validation in OCLC can be tricky, but is made much easier with the use of freely available macros.

We've found this process to be fairly easy to implement, and broadly applicable across many disciplines. This non-standard application of EndNote demonstrates how existing technology can be used to improve both workflow and user access.

This response addresses specifically the following sections from the Report of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control.

Recommendation 4.3 identifies the following issues relating to the current status of LCSH:"Other problems arise because LCSH has evolved over a long period of time. The vocabulary was not originally conceived as a thesaurus. While thesaural relationships (equivalent, associative, and hierarchical) are now included as headings are established, the relationships are inconsistent and may not exist at all on older terms. Terminology is sometimes outdated or not intuitive to the inexperienced user. LC does update its subject terms, but from outside LC the results often appear to be arbitrary and unexpected.

While it is recognized as a powerful tool for collocating topical information, LCSH suffers, however, from a structure that is cumbersome from both administrative and automation points of view."4

Among the recommendations of the Working Group:

4.3.1 Transform LCSH

4.3.1.1 LC: Transform LCSH into a tool that provides a more flexible means to create and modify subject authority data.

4.3.1.2 LC: Make LCSH openly available for use by library and non-library stakeholders.

4.3.1.3 LC: Provide LCSH in its current alphabetical arrangement, and enable its customized assembly into topical thesauri.

4.3.2.1 LC: Work with appropriate partners on ways to take advantage of the power of the controlled vocabulary in LCSH, LCC, and DDC. Describe or identify products or schemes that could take advantage of those terminologies in a more accessible environment with broader audiences.

4.3.2.2 All: Evaluate the ability of LCSH to support faceted browsing and discovery.5

Response

There are no doubt different possible approaches to addressing these concerns. FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology),6 developed by OCLC, is one possible approach. There are other options also. This response outlines an option that will transform LCSH into a tool that can accommodate different application policies, including LC's current "string" or precoordinated approach.

As it stands currently, LCSH is a mixture of two vocabularies:
(1) Source subject vocabulary in the form of words or phrases representing single concepts, similar to index terms found in a thesaurus
(2) Results of application in the form of subject strings (i.e., combinations of a main heading with one or more subdivisions) based on LC's policy of precoordination

This mixture results in a list that not only provides the terminology but also predetermines the application rules.

Proposed Approach

Separate vocabulary (terminology) from application by creating two distinct files:

(1) The source vocabulary: Records of controlled terminology from which subject terms can be selected and heading strings may be formed, with thesaural (equivalent, hierarchical, and relational) relationships and scope notes included.

This file would consist of the building blocks for subject cataloging or indexing. Removing subject heading strings that are the results of application from the current LCSH would enable the transforming of LCSH into a cleaner index vocabulary that can be used with different application policies. (4.3.1.1; 4.3.1.3; 4.3.2.2)

(2) A validation file: A record of subject heading strings created by the Library of Congress and other libraries for use in bibliographic records. This file represents the results of application based on a policy of precoordination.

This file could be created from 6XX fields in MARC bibliographic records. No thesaural relationships would be included. For LCSH users who adhere to the policy of precoordinated strings, a browsable validation file would be useful as both a cataloging tool and a retrieval tool for identifying correct terms and strings. (4.3.2.2)

The validation file can be maintained as a relatively simple browsable and keyword-searchable file. It will serve as a convenient tool which catalogers would consult first before constructing subject headings from scratch. The same list can also be used as a browsing tool for end users.

Before being added to the proposed validation file, each component part of a heading string needs to be verified against the source vocabulary and the combination of the string authenticated to ensure correct construction according to established policies. Maintenance of the validation file consists mainly of updating subject heading strings due to changes in the source terms or in application policies. (4.3.1.1)

Advantages of Separating the Source Vocabulary from Results of Application

The source vocabulary would:

be easier to control and maintain as a controlled vocabulary than the current LCSH;

be compatible with national and international standards for construction of controlled vocabularies; (4.3.1.1)

be amenable to different application policies, for example, the complex string approach, a faceted approach, or a simpler descriptor approach; (4.3.1.2)

be more compatible in syntax and interoperable with other controlled vocabularies; (4.3.2.1)

be easier to translate into other languages;

facilitate mapping between terms in LCSH and those in other vocabularies and classification or categorization schemes; in other words, improve interoperability between LCSH and other controlled vocabularies; (4.3.1.4; 4.3.2.1)

support and facilitate "faceted browsing and discovery"; (4.3.2.2) and,

facilitate the generation of domain-specific or topical thesauri. (4.3.1.3)

facilitate end-user browsing and searching by showing search terms in their proper contexts in the string.

This proposal would benefit the Library of Congress and the majority of LCSH users who intend to continue the current policies of precoordinated strings, and it would also aid those who intend to modify their application policy to a faceted, postcoordinate approach. The source vocabulary file facilitates such a transition; and, when used in tandem with the validation file, also provides a record of practice.

Lois Mai Chan, Professor
School of Library and Information Science
University of Kentucky

The Future of LCSH: Comments on Lois Chan's Response

Lois Chan's simple approach to a division of LCSH into two files with different purposes is a brilliant suggestion. It would separate the built LCSH strings which appear in MARC bibliographic records (Chan calls it "A Validation File") from the controlled vocabulary file which we now call SAF (Subject Authority File) and which should be called, as she suggests, "The Source Vocabulary." This latter file would lead to a new future for LCSH as a thesaurus, as a "mapped" vocabulary joined in the file by other vocabularies extant in files other than MARC bibliographic records. The reader can easily tell, from Chan's paper, that the recommendations of the Working Group will be best served if this division takes place and a great deal of effort is expended at developing the Source Vocabulary concept as separate from application in practice.

In the hands of a competent thesaurus editor, joined with a development team, this file and all it contained could be accessed by all Internet programmer/designers, indexers and lexicographic editors who are designing tomorrow's interoperable search and discovery tools (like Eric Johnson did in the 1990s when he created IOdyne -- online thesaurus displays within a retrieval system useful to searchers and indexers alike).

Once the source and validation file functions are separated, the idea of merging controlled vocabularies like LCSH, MeSH, LIV, LCTGM, etc. into The Source Vocabulary File (SVF) can be undertaken and all the information about term relationships, facet indicators, subject categorizations, scope and history notes, etc. can be incorporated and provided as editing, mapping, and merging projects are undertaken.

This relevant information can inform vocabulary editors who are developing domain specific micro-thesauri to make useful displays.

When data now in separate files for LCC and DDC are added as "source vocabulary", their structures could be manipulated and compared with hierarchic displays in thesauri. Classification Web was a pioneering effort but needs to be updated to include the concept of editing for greater use in online user displays. The validation and publication functions of Classification Web files need to be separated out before being used in SVF.

Facet indicators which come from the LCSH string of subfield indicators (see FAST) are only the bare beginning of what faceting could do for a SVF like the one suggested by Chan. James Anderson and others have made suggestions which need to be considered seriously, tried in an exploratory thesaurus file like SVF. Once you move out of LCSH strings and mark up topical terms with further facet indicators than "topical," a whole new approach to faceted vocabulary in a thesaurus can be developed. (My class in thesaurus construction did just this and were able to develop thesaurus prototypes for many topics from facet analyzed deconstructed LCSH strings.)

Imagine how useful a SVF could be if it contained all the scope notes, applicable SCM rules, comparable terms from other vocabularies for each SVF term. Granted this would be a lot of information and someone should be sure that it is presented in useful, non-confusing displays.

Imagine how useful a SVF could be if it could be accessed by some social networking software which allowed participants to record their comments about a term, its hierarchy, other relationships, scope notes, etc. (We tried a limited version of this for ERIC during the Vocabulary Improvement Project—long before social networking, or the Internet (!) existed, and it was very useful as more than thirty people all over the country were engaged in revising the ERIC thesaurus, with the vocabulary's editor in Washington, DC.)

As a composite file, SVF becomes a repository of information about terms used in subject analysis and subject access. Like the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) it must be expertly compiled and edited. Displays must be simple to understand and tailored for various users' needs. As a tool for interoperability it could carry the old ideas of vocabulary mapping, merging, and switching to a new level.

4.3.3.1 LC and providers of subject vocabularies: Provide references within LCSH, where appropriate, and between LCSH and other established sources of controlled headings, such as MeSH, The National Agricultural Library's Thesaurus, Sears List of Subject Headings, and the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus. Make vocabularies cross-searchable and interoperable.7

The provision of references between different sources of controlled headings such as LCSH and MeSH is a three-step process. (1) Equivalent headings in the sources have to be identified and mapped. (2) The mapping data has to be recorded in some kind of database. (3) Software has to be developed in order to generate and display references between equivalent headings in the different sources. Steps 1 and 2 have already been done for LCSH and MeSH. Equivalent headings in the two systems have been mapped and the data has been entered into 7XX linking entry fields in LCSH and MeSH MARC21 authority records. These 7XX fields could be used to generate references between equivalent headings in a library OPAC (step 3) using the same functionality that generates references from 4XX and 5XX fields.

Although the major integrated library systems provide references from 4XX and 5XX fields in authority records, most of them do not have the capability of providing references from 7XX fields. This shortcoming could easily be rectified, since it involves simply extending the existing capability which provides references from 4XX and 5XX fields. The LCSH/MeSH mapping data could also be made manifest by one of the new search interfaces, such as Ex Libris' Primo or III's Encore, assuming that subject authority records are included in the search results of these interfaces.

Since 1990 the staff at the Northwestern University Main and Health Sciences libraries have been mapping equivalent LCSH and MeSH headings and entering the data into MARC21 authority records. The enhanced authority records with the mapping data are available for libraries and other cataloging agencies to use, and can be downloaded from Northwestern University's public http site (http://www.library.northwestern.edu/public/lcshmesh/).

The mapping data is current through MeSH 2007 and LCSH update file 2007, week 26. At the present time approximately 13,000 LCSH and 12,000 MeSH headings have been mapped. Staff at the Northwestern University Main and Health Sciences libraries is currently updating the mappings for MeSH 2008. We plan to provide files of updated LCSH (at least through 2008, week 13) and MeSH authority records in early June 2008. For more information about the LCSH/MeSH mapping project at Northwestern University see the paper by Olson and Strawn (1997),8 or contact Tony Olson (ajolson(at)northwestern.edu).

5.2.2.2 All: Use network capabilities and other distance learning technologies to increase the availability of education for all library staff. In particular, encourage the creation of courses that can be taken at the learners' convenience.

Continuing education is essential for successful cataloging. At California State University, San Marcos, we have used conference calls to exchange new skills but found that conference calls are similar to lecture-only classes, in that not all people learn easily via lecture. Recently, we used an added dimension of conference call service to exchange know-how more effectively.

The enhanced capacity of university conference call software, Integrated Conference Manager, strengthens distant continuing education. The software provides callers with a view of the instructor's desktop as well as an audio of her lecture. One staff member demonstrated how to use MarcEdit software verbally while at the same time performing the steps on her PC. All of us could follow her through the process and ask questions. The result was more successful and interactive learning. We recommend this technique to increase opportunities to up-date the capabilities of catalogers.

Christine Ashley
Lead Library Assistant, Cataloging
California State University San Marcos Library

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SACO News

The SACO Program anticipates the long-awaited debut of the SACO Web course at ALA Midwinter 2009 in Denver. ALCTS [Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association], on whose server the SACO Web course was developed using the WebCT 4.1 software, had intended to migrate materials via the new software package (Moodle) it is using. However, retrieval of files was delayed until June 2, 2008. A small group of "beta testers" for the Web course will work through any glitches before the course is publicly available. SACO participants should anticipate notification via the SACOlist.

The SACO-At-Large meeting held at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference featured a panel discussion by 4 subject funnel coordinators. Each coordinator was asked to address topics such as what instigated the creation of the funnel, and if the funnel had an email discussion list for individual funnel participants. For a full report of this meeting please visit: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/archive/SACOAtLarge08a.html. It was announced that 4 new subject projects were in the developmental stages including an ArtSACO Project, a SACO Music Project, a geographically-based subject funnel project in the Southwest region of the U.S., and a Genre/Form Subject Funnel Project. SACO participants should expect future announcements about these funnels made by the new funnel coordinators on the SACO listserve.

SACO participants have long requested the creation of a "national record exchange mechanism for subject authority records" between the Library of Congress and OCLC, in much the same fashion as that available to NACO participants. A natural by-product of this exchange would be a "national review file for subjects." This idea is certainly not a new one, and one which has been requested by many PCC participants for more than nine years. Benefits from the creation of a "national record exchange mechanism and subject review file" at OCLC include improving the timeliness of the review of incoming proposals; allowing for local review before submitting proposals; avoiding potential duplicates; displaying proposals only with content data and MARC tags, irrespective of vendor used to create the record or where the record would reside; and finally reducing any re-keying of data, particularly with regard to diacritics. Participation in the exchange would not be mandatory; the Website will always offer the form by which new contributions could be submitted. New developments will be announced via the PCC electronic discussion list and the SACO electronic discussion list.

Other subject cataloging training courses continue to be offered with much regularity. The jointly developed ALCTS/PCC course entitled "Basic Subject Cataloging Using LCSH" will be modified and presented to E-CIP catalogers during a session in July 2008. This course will also be offered at the OCLC Eastern offices in Washington, D.C. in September 2008. The "Fundamentals of LC Classification" course will be offered numerous times during the next 6 months, including a September 2008 training for SOLINET in Atlanta, an October 2008 training at Brigham Young University, and at OCLC Eastern in Washington, D.C. in January 2009. Negotiations are underway with the University of Miami to offer training in February 2009.

John N. Mitchell
SACO Coordinator
Library of Congress

PUBLICATIONS

RDA: Resource Description and Access

The Co-Publishers of RDA Online (the American Library Association, the Canadian Library Association, and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) have reached the conclusion that further time is required to complete the development of the new software that will be used for distributing the full draft of RDA for constituency review. The full draft, originally scheduled for release on August 4, 2008, will now be issued in October 2008. The three month time period allocated for comments on the full draft is unchanged, and in this new schedule will extend from October into January 2009. More specific dates for RDA's final release will be forthcoming. Members of the Committee of Principals (CoP) and the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) agree that the importance of distributing RDA content in a well-developed and tested version of the new software is such that a two-month delay is justified. They concluded that this extension is worthwhile given the ultimate value of the exceptional effort that is going into RDA and feel that the review by constituencies will be enhanced as a result.

Statement of International Cataloguing Principles

A series of five regional IFLA Meetings of Experts on an International Cataloguing Code (IME ICC) took place from 2003 to 2007. They produced a "Statement of International Cataloguing Principles" that was submitted for worldwide review in May 2008. This document as well as additional information is available from http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/icc/.

Oliver Leonard Kapsner, O.S.B. Cataloging Bulletin

Robert L. Kusmer, Ph.D., M.L.S., who serves as cataloging librarian for German, humanities, and theology at the Theodore M. Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame, is the editor of the Catholic Library Association catalogers e-newsletter. Issued quarterly, the Oliver Leonard Kapsner, O.S.B. Cataloging Bulletin (ISSN 1940-9702) is freely accessible at http://www.cathla.org/news.php. The lead article in the first issue dated October 2007 is about the life of Father Oliver Leonard Kapsner (1902-1991) and written by Sister M. Dorothy Neuhofer, O.S.B. Father Kapsner was known for his compilations of subject headings on Catholicism.

PEOPLE

Jane Greenberg Receives 2008 Frederick G. Kilgour Award

Dr. Jane Greenberg, a faculty member at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, is the winner of the 2008 Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology. The Kilgour Award, sponsored by OCLC, Inc. and the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), recognizes outstanding research that advances information science and information retrieval. The Award was presented to Dr. Greenberg at the American Library Association Annual Conference in June 2008 in Anaheim, California. Greenberg's research activities and publications have been extensive and prolific. Among Greenberg's significant undertakings are the Metadata Generation Research Project to identify the most efficient way to generate metadata using human and automatic techniques and the Automatic Generation Applications Project, which helped identify functionalities required for developing robust automatic metadata generation applications. Dr. Greenberg received a master's degree in Library and Information Science from Columbia University in 1987 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998. She was named the Francis Carroll McColl Term Professor at the School of Information and Library Science in 2007. Greenberg also serves as the director of the Metadata Research Center at UNC.

Martha Yee Awarded 2008 Margaret Mann Citation

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) has named Martha Yee, cataloging supervisor, UCLA Film & Television Archive, as the recipient of the 2008 Margaret Mann Citation presented by the Cataloging and Classification Section (CCS) of ALCTS. The award was presented on June 29, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Anaheim, California. The Mann Citation, recognizing outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification, includes a $2,000 scholarship donated in the recipient's honor by OCLC, Inc. to the library school of the winner's choice. She has chosen the Information School at the University of Washington to be the recipient of this year's scholarship award. Yee is recognized for her outstanding contributions to the practice of cataloging and her interest in cataloging education. Yee's professional contributions have included active participation in ALA and ALCTS, her numerous publications, and many leadership roles: CCS (Executive Committee Chair), MARBI (again, as Chair) and as a member of a CCS Task Force to Develop Name and Title Authority Training. Addressing FRBR, OPAC displays, shared cataloging and other important issues, Yee is making a significant contribution to the discussions that are leading the development of our field. Her numerous publications are not only knowledgeable but very timely and relevant to the current cataloging environment.

Best of CCQ v.41 Awarded to Lona Hoover and Anna Sitarska

Volume 41 of CCQ contains a number of general articles on cataloguing matters, but more than one half of the volume (470 pages) is devoted to a special topic "Education for Library Cataloging: International Perspectives." This latter section contains articles describing library and information science programs throughout the world. Together these articles provide a wide overview of cataloging education across the world which is significant in itself. Therefore, the panel has decided to recommend two awards for this volume. The awards panel included Kathryn Luther Henderson, Janet Lee-Smeltzer, and Nancy J. Williamson (convener). The titles chosen are as follows:

"A Beginner's Guide for Subject Analysis of Theses and Dissertations in the Hard Sciences" by Lona Hoover, Assistant Professor/Monographic Cataloger at Mississippi State University Libraries
At first glance this article seems rather specialized but it is a topic on which material is highly relevant and will appeal to cataloging audiences in general, and especially to catalogers in academic libraries who are required to meet tenure requirements. The purpose of the article is clear, depth of detail is excellent, and illustrations are very helpful. It is interesting for the help that it gives. It is well written and practical in nature while still covering subject analysis principles, tools, and standards. It could be generalized for use with other types of materials. It appears to be well researched and is well documented. The article appears in CCQ 41(1): 133-161 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J104v41n01_07).

"Education and Training on the Nature and Description of Documents: Polish University Studies and Professional Librarianship Schools" by Anna Sitarska, Professor, Institute of Librarianship and Information Science, Jagiellonian University, Cracow.
Many "education" articles on this topic are quite ordinary and statements of facts about courses and curricula. This article is somewhat different. It is well researched and includes extensive documentation and explanatory footnotes along with charts to illustrate curricula. It is critical in pointing out difficulties and it looks to the future. There is evidence of extensive research and the article is carefully executed. It also focuses on cataloging education in the broader context discussing some of the fundamental issues and their implications as opposed to a narrower concentration on courses. The article appears in CCQ 41(3/4): 227-267 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J104v41n03_04).

Best of CCQ v.42 Awarded to Fran Miksa

Dr. Francis L. Miksa, Professor, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, has received the award for the best article published in volume 42 of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly. His article, "The DDC Relative Index," is a detailed analysis of the intricacies of the various indexes to the Dewey Decimal Classification, their origin, development, structure, and their unique and complex nature. It is thorough and detailed research in which the author sets out his approach in the form of three questions to which he seeks answers. These questions focus on the fundamental aspects of the indexes – the representation of the concepts, their conceptual context in relation to both their notational location and their meaning at those locations, and the relationships between the indexes and the special auxiliary tables. The analysis is detailed and extensive and reaches across the indexes to all twenty-two editions of DDC since its first publication in 1876. The author approaches his research systematically using the three aspects; the conclusions reveal both strengths and weaknesses of the system and identify areas for further inquiry.

In the course of the research, the author exhibits a highly intelligent grasp of the intricate system he is analyzing and has a deep and theoretical understanding of the complex conceptual relationships among subjects generally. For those who create indexes of this kind, the article has much to say about their design and about the nature of concept relationships. As well, cataloging practitioners could benefit a great deal from what the author has to say, that would aid in their intelligent use of the indexes in practice. The research methodology is well designed and Miksa has a clear writing style that results in a logical and systematic presentation. Moreover, he has managed to achieve his goal of studying the important features of the indexes without becoming overwhelmed by the "sheer magnitude" of the subject. By and large the sources are the indexes themselves and there are useful examples and extensive footnotes. The research is original and, indeed, the author certainly accomplishes what he had set out to do.

This article appears in CCQ 42(3/4): 65-95 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J104v42n03_02), and also in Moving Beyond the Presentation Layer: Content and Context in the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System edited by Joan S. Mitchell and Diane Vizine-Goetz. The awards panel consisted of Michael Carpenter, Nancy J. Williamson, and Brad Young (Chair).

Best of CCQ v.43 Awarded to Corey A. Harper and Barbara B. Tillett

"Library of Congress Controlled Vocabularies and Their Application to the Semantic Web" co-authored by Corey A. Harper and Dr. Barbara B. Tillett has been selected as the best article published in v.43 of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly. The award panel states, "We appreciate the way the authors clearly and cogently addressed the complex intersections of controlled vocabularies and semantic web concepts. The discussion spans a broad range of terminologies and encoding systems, highlighting both the advantages to be gained and the areas where caution is needed. Though the panel found much to like in many of the articles in volume 43, the Harper/Tillett article is our consensus favorite for its breadth, depth, and clarity in addressing this timely topic."

This article appears in CCQ 43(3/4): 47-68 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J104v43n03_04), and also in Knitting the Semantic Web, edited by Jane Greenberg and Eva Méndez. Members of the awards panel were Mary Curran, Stephen Hearn (Chair), and David Miller.

Footnotes

1 Sandra Roe, "On the Record-An Invitation," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 46, no. 3 (2008). 2 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, "On the Record: Report of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control," January 9, 2008, http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf.
3 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, "On the Record," 15.
4 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, "On the Record," 34.
5 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, "On the Record," 35.
6 FAST: Faceted Application of Subject Terminology. Dublin, OH: OCLC. http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/fast/
7 Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, "On the Record," 36.
8 Tony Olson and Gary Strawn, "Mapping the LCSH and MeSH Systems," Information Technology and Libraries 16, no. 1 (March 1997): 5-19.